Power-operated type-writer.



A, STEINER. POWER OPERATED TYPE WRITER;

APPLICATION F!LED1ULY22,I914.

Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Jwwm/Eam g ga r A. STEINER.

TYPE WRITER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22,2914.

POWER OPERATED Patented Feb, 29, 1916.

A. STEINER. POWER OPQRATED TYPE WRITER.

APPLICATION FlLED JULY 22,1914.

Patented. Feb. 29, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- "UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE.

ADOLF STEINER, OF BERLIN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOB TITANIA SOHREIBMAS'CHINEN G-ES. M. B. H., 013 BERLIN, GERMANY, A CORPORATION OF GERMANY.

. POWER-OE'ERATED TYRE-WRITER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

Application filed July 22, 1914. Serial No. 852,426.

To all whom at m (13 concern Be it known that I, ApoLF STEINER, man- .Prussia in the German Empire, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Power-Operated Type-VVriters, of which the following is a specification. v g

It has already been attempted to separate the striking of the keysand the movement of the types 'in typewriters and to make them independent. by causing the writer to release, by striking the key, a device operated by springs, electromagnets or the like, which, in its turn, moved the type onto the paper, so that the strength of the stroke ontlre keys was independent of the printing pressure.

'Inorder to effect a rapid striking, it has already been suggested also to provide for eachtype bar, a separate mechanical device operated'by striking the corresponding key. This device, however, presents the drawback that the printing pressure of the single types cannot be adjusted independently of each other. Such tin-adjustment is, however, required in order to adapt the printing pressure to the larger or smaller 'contact 'surfaces of the characters, and to regulate the force used for striking, in accordance with the more or less central or lateral -"position'of the levers. This invention removes. the disadvantage in questionby operating each of the mechanical devices for moving the types, by means of a sepa rate source of power. It is consequently possible to regulate individually the printing pressure ofthe single types, for instance by inserting vadjusting devices into the source of 'power or giving to the single moving devices (cam'disks, for example) a particular shape,

In the accompanying drawings, a preferred form of constructionof applicants device and several modifications of'thesame are shown applied to the corresponding parts of the typewriter. a V

In the drawing Figure 1 shows diagrammatically a key and type lever with the corresponding connecting members and mechanical driving gear; Fig. 2 is'a plan of the drii in' lever shown in Fi 1" F i 3 is a par-tin front elevation showing an adjust 'ment derice for regulating thepressure of the types against. the paper; Fig. 4c is a modified construction of the device shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a modified construction of the driving cam disks; Fig. 6 is a partial plan of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a further form of execution in a side view; Fig. 8 is a diagrammatlcal side new of a modifiedform of the invention having the yokes arranged in a staggered order; Fig. 9- is a plan. of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a modified construction of the yoke-arrangement according to Fig.

8. and Fig. 11 is a plan of Fig. 10. Figs.

12 to'14 show different forms'of cam disks to be used for the different types for the purpose of regulating the pressure of the types against the )aper.

The type lever a as well as the rods 6 connecting itto the key lever, are made in the known manner. The key-lever itself consists of the mechanically movable driving lever c and the lever d provided withfthe key button It. The former lever oscillates about the pin 0, and the latter about the pin f. I The two levers engage over each other by means of projections 9 so that, by depressing the lever (Z, by striking the key button 12-, the driving'lever C. is released and turned by the mechanical device hereinafter described, about the pin 6, first in a clockwise direction, and then in the opposite direction, and in that way brings by means of the. rod 1) the type lever a with its end carrying the type in the known manner against the paper roll. The engagement of the projections g is effected, after returning the driving lever to its original position,

by a spring 11 arranged under the key lever d.

For mechanical operation of the lever c, in the machine is mounted a roller is always rotating in the direction of the arrow and preferably covered with a coating, for instance, rubber or the like. The driving lever c is bifurcated at the portion m situated under the rollen In (Fig.2). In the "bifurcated part or yoke m is mounted a cam disk 72., the center of gravityof which is shifted, by providing recesses 71 at such a point that in the position shown in Fig. 1,

- the-disk n has the-tendency to turn about becomes operative. It rotates the driving ence of the spring lever.

lever a about its pin a in a clockwise direction, so that the cam disk it engages with the constantly rotating roller is. In that way, the pin 71 is released from the corresponding finger of the cam ledge 72. and the cam disk it engages with the roller 7.: so that, owing to the shape of the cam disk, the lever 0 can rotate in a clockwise direction, the types being pressed in the known manner. During continued rotation of the cam disk a, the driving lever o is turned back owing to the shape of the cam disk n and comes back to the original position in which the projections g engage with each other. so that the device ready for the next striking of the keys. The lorcc with which the types strike the paper roll. chiefly depends on the strength of the spring (,1, but the cam disk n. owing to its shape as well as that of the roller it, also regulates the speed of striking as well as the force of the same.

In order to enable the pressure of the types against the paper to be regulated, the spring 7 producing the said pressure, is made adjustable. It is secured with one end to the driving lever c, while with its other end engages a screw 1', the head of which is held by a ledge a. By screwing the. screw r, more or less into the spring I, the latter placed in tension more or less, and its action on the type. lever regulated. In that way. it is possible, according to the type which iscontrolled by the correspond ing driving lever c, to adjust; the spring to a greater or less strength, and in that way to regulate the pressure with which the single types are pressed against the paper, by ad justing the. springs I], independently of the striking of the keys by the writer, in accordance with the size of. the printing surface of the different types. Such a regulation of the striking force of the type levers could also be effected by different shapes of the cam disksm, even if all the springs (7 were placed under the same tension.

Figs. 12 to ll illustrate different shapes of the cam disks n the part n." of thesecams engagesthe roller is while the lever e performs its operating stroke under the i flu- The cam hereby regthe movement of said The flatter the cam face a the quicker the lever s will be able to perform ulates the speed oi its operation and the more force will be developed by the spring 1 in hitting the paper.

' In other words, if the cam disk has a cam the types strike the paper. by an appropriate selection of the cam disks.

In order to enable the pressure of the types against the paper to be modified in accordance with the number of the carbons to be written, another device is provided, by means of which all the springs g can be simultaneously placed under tension or slackened without regard to their individual ad just-meat tor the type controlled by the same. To that end, the ledge through which pass all the screws r, is made adjustable in the axial direction of the springs This-could be done for instance by mounting the ledge aby means of a pinat each side of the disk t rotatable about a pin If. By rotating the disk 1* in one or in the other direction, the pins of the lodge a are raised or lowered. The two disks 1, in order to insure a simultaneous movement, could be preferably connected together by means of a cross-bar t spring cmitrollcd lock u (Fig. 3) which can engage with holes of one of the disks z, is used for locking; the disks 1% in its different positions. Another adjustmentdevice for the ledge could be selected at will and for the purpose of facilitating the adjustment, a scale could be provided, indicating I the position of the ledge for the number of carbons in question.

The construction shown in Fig. l is substantially similar to that shown in Fig. 1, only in this case the rolling of the cam disk n. on the continuously rotating roller 7c acts in the reverse direction. If in this case the lever (I is moved by depressing the key h, so that the projections g are released, the weak spring r or eventually the weight of the driving lever r.- oscillating aboutthe pin c. brings the cam disk a into engagement with the rotating roller Z1. During the subsequent rolling. thodriving lever 12, owing to the shape of the cam disk 11, will be moved at first in an anti-cloclm isc direction and will produce the striking of the type lever. As soon as the spindle 0 of: the cam disk a has reached the smallest distance from the roller is, the driving lever n will be moved back, until the pro ections 1 come into engagement with each other. As however the cam. disk a has been in the meantime locked by the lock 72 72 it no longer comes into engagement with the roller In, and the device stops.

In order to enable the printing pressure to be regulated, the driving lever c is divided. and between the two parts is inserted aspring w, the strength of whichcan be regulated by means of'the screw In this case also, in place of, or in addition to, the adjustment of the springs infer the single characters, in accordance with their printing surface, cam .disks of different shape can be used. This construction is not as efiicacious as the first, as the joint adjustment of all the springs w for the purpose of-regulating the pressure in a case of a different number of carbons, is very difficult to effect in the said construction.

Another modification of the driving de vice' is shown in- Figs. 5-7, according to which the cam disks in the position of rest,

' face the rotating rollers with their lower portions so that when a key is depressed, the turning of the driving lever required for the writing movement, is effected exclusively by the source of powenarranged for producing the printing pressure, that is to say,

during the time in which the driving lever with the cain moves toward the roller, only the return of the driving lever to its position of rest being effected by the cam. This arrangement has the advantage that the depression can take .place more quickly, and after the highest portion of the cam has passedthe roller during the rotation, and the locking has taken place, the cam will fall back into a position of rest in which it is held by'its own weight in contact with a stock pin and out of contact with the roller,

thus avoiding unnecessary wear of the roller. g

The cam disk n is of heart or egg shape and is arranged with the pointed end downward, so that the lowest face of it comes opposite to the rotating roller 7:. In that position, between the cam n and the roller it there is such a large intermediate space that, after the release of the driving lever go by, the depression of the key It, the former can make idly a sufficiently large movement tobring about the impression of the; type. .For driving the driving lever during the impression a spring 1 is used the tension of i which is adapted to be regulated for instance in the manner stated before, by means of. the screw 1' and theadjustment device 8 t t t, in accordance with the, type to be struck and the work to be performed. As soon as the cam n comes into engagement with the roller is, and the striking of the type is completed, the cam begins to rotate owing to the friction produced. and consequently the driving lever c is again brought back to its.

position of rest in which it is locked by the key lever cl. Only one half of the cam therefore becomes operative, and it would be sufficient to use half a cam disk, but nevertheless the cam is preferably made as shown in gthe drawing, so'that it takes up a corrept position when it is free. As soon as during the rotation the highest portion of the cam its position of rest. cessive oscillation during the falling back of the cam, a stop rail .g can be provided, which is arranged so low that, after the'upward movement of the cam with the driving lever r. it no longer interferes with the rotation of the cam. The pin is preferably ar-' ranged in such a manner that the cams are held in contact with the same by the action of their weight;

The roller 2ican be of course also arranged below the driving lever and it is then merelynecessary for the cam n, in its position of rest, to stand with its point upward, that is-to say, face the roller with its lowest point. This canbe effected for instance by shifting the center of gravity of the cam to its narrower side, by giving it a suitable shape. A construction of this kind, given byway of example, is shown in Fig. 7. In this case, the cam is provided at the pointed side with recesses n so that it be- Comes lighter at this side.- If this is still insufficientto insure the adjustment in the position shown in Fig. 7, recesses a could beprovided on the narrow side of the cam also facing downward, and the said recesses filled with a heavier metal. In such case the whole cam-is preferably made of a light metal, for instance. aluminium, and the recesses W are filled with a heavy metal such vantage that the'stop pins engaging with v the cams, can be doneaway with, that is to say. the cam disks made with full contact surfaces, with whichthey-engage with the roller 73, so that the latter doesnot wear out so quickly, At the same time, the printing pressure is independent of the shape of the curves, and its strength is therefore regulated merely by the tension of the spring q.

the driving device as shown in Figs. 8-11,

in which the yokes are arranged on the driving levers in staggered order, and more than one rotating rollers are used, so that the consecutive yokes alternately engage with the different driving rollers. In the Figs.

In that way, there is a greater precision in n 811 two modified forms of the invention.

are illustrated having two rotating rollers, marked with the reference letters 70 and [0 grid the yokes m on the driving leversare rranged in staggered order. The arrangement'can be. as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, either such that the yoke m is alternately arranged on one or'on the other side of the pivot pin 3 on the driving levers 0. Two

rotating rollers are then required, one of which must be arranged above, and the other below the driving lever c, as the cams must operate in opposite direction.

In the constructions shown in Fig. 10, both rollers are arranged on one side ofthe lever. Owing to the different leverages which become operative, the eccentricity of the cams n. in this arrangement must be different. Owing to the staggered arrangement of the yokes as, there will be approximately :1 double space available for each of them in the direction of width. The yokes aswell as the cams, can he therefore made wider, and their wear as well as the wear of the rollers A: and k preferably covered with rubber, becomes smaller, or the machine can be made more compact in width.

I claim 1. In power operated typewriter 1n combination, type levers, a key for each type lever, a separate driving lever for each of the type levers, means controlled by the keys for locking the driving levers in the position of rest, a separate source of power for each of .the driving levers operating it when the said means are released, and automatic means for restoringthe said sources of power into their working position after the operation ofthe driving levers, substam tially as described.

In a power operated typewriter 'in combination type levers, a key for each;of the type levers, a separate driving lever for each of the type levers, means controlled by the keys for locking the driving. levers in the position of rest, a separate source of power for each of the driving levers, operating it when the said means arereleased, cam disks mounted on said driving levers and continuously rotating rollers cotiperating with the said cam isks.

3. In a power ,oper ted typewriter in combination type levers, a key for each of the type levers, a separate driving lever for each of the type levers, meanscontrolled by the keys for locking the driving-levers in the position of rest, a separate source of power for each of the driving levers operating it when the said means are released, cam disks mounted on said driving levers and continuously rotating rollers cooperating with the said cam disks, each of the said sources of powercotiperating with the corresponding cam disk and moving the driving lever so that it first makes the rotation required for striking the types and is then brought back to its original position. i

4. In a power operated typewriter in combination, type levers; a key for each of the type levers, a separate driving lever for each of said type levers, means controlled by the keys for locking the driving levers;

in the position of rest, a separate source of power for each of the driving levers operating it when the said means are released, cam disks mounted on said driving levers, and continuously rotating rollers cotiperating with said cam disks, said cam disks having different shapes for the purpose of adjusting the effect of said sources of power to suit the size of the printing surface of the corresponding types. y

In .a power ope 'ated typewriter in combination type levers, a key for each of the type levers, a separate driving lever for eachof the type levers, a separate source of power for each of the driving levers, cam

disks mounted on said driving levers and continiiously rotating rollers cooperating with the said cam disks, said cam disks being staggered relatively to each other;

6. In a' power operated typewriter in combination type levers, a key for each of .the type levers, a separate driving lever for each of the type levers, aseparate source of power foreach of the driving levers, cam disks mounted on' said driving levers and continuously rotating rollers cooperating with said cam disks, said cam disksbeing staggered relatively to each other and hav ing different eccentricities to suit the diiier ent positions of the cams.

T. In a power operated typewriter in combination type levers, a. key for each of the type levers, a separate driving lever for each of the type levers, a separate source of power for each of the driving levers, cam disks mounted on said driving levers and continuously rotating rollers coiiperating with the said cam disks, said cam disks being staggered relatively to each other by being arranged alternately in front of, or

behind the pivot point of the driving levers. 8. Ina power operated typewriter in combination type levers, a key for each ofthe type levers, a separate driving lever for each of the type levers, a separate source of power for. eachof the driving levers, cam

disks mounted on said driving levers and two continuously rotating rollers co6perat-' ing with the said cam disks, said cam disks being staggered relatively to each otherby being arranged alternately in front of, or behind the pivot point of the driving levers and one of said rollers being mounted above, and theother one below the. driving levers.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

'ADOLF STEINER. Witnesses:

VVOLDEMAR HAUPT, HENRY Hasrnn. 

